She writes of absence
and almost seeing:
his face across a crowd,
a figure on a bus,
other people’s husbands,
other people’s lives.
What’s missing manifests
along her vague edges
like old gilt frames
around strangers’ faces,
unfamiliar people fixed
in familiar situations.
She inscribes another hole
with nothing much at all,
set shadows content
within shifting contexts,
until she finds yet another
face behind which to hide.
(September 7, 2015)
subtext 